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Oprah to quit long running talk show

Updated: Oprah Winfrey will quit her show on Sept. 9, 2011 and won't transfer it to cable.

oprah 1“The sun will set on the Oprah show as its 25th season draws to a close on September 9, 2011,” according to ABC’s New York affiliate, WABC’s Eyewitness News.

Speculation has been mounting about Opie’s future plans with her contract with CBS ending and her own cable network launching.

Deadline Hollywood Daily’s Nikki Finke reported she had decided to end her syndicated show and move to her still unlaunched cable Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) when her contract expires in 2011, but WABC says that no decision has been made about whether she will do the show on cable.

Such a move would also see her production operations relocate from Chicago to Los Angeles.

HARPO will own OWN with Discovery Communications.

Earlier reports also said if she was to stay with her current syndication model that license fees would be significantly reduced, given her ratings are down. Dr. Phil, who was renewed to 2014, recently took a similar cut.

Either way the talk show queen has indicated she will clarify her future before the end of the year.

The latest report tips she will do just that on air in the US on Friday.

Update: Now confirmed.

“The sun will set on the Oprah show as its 25th season draws to a close on Sept. 9, 2011,” Tim Bennett, the president of Harpo, said in a message to affiliates. She informed her talk show staff of her decision on Thursday afternoon and said that she will not transfer the show to cable.

She is expected to produce new programs for OWN, and may appear on some of them.

Source: Huffington Post, NY Post

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